# 6.1.1. General

This is the standard REST API for external programs that want to interact with Bugzilla. It provides a REST interface to various Bugzilla functions.

## 6.1.1.1. Basic Information

Browsing

If the `Accept` header of a request is set to `text/html` (as it is by an ordinary web browser) then the API will return the JSON data as a HTML page which the browser can display. In other words, you can play with the API using just your browser to see results in a human-readable form. This is a good way to try out the various GET calls, even if you can’t use it for POST or PUT.

Data Format

The REST API only supports JSON input, and either JSON or JSONP output. So objects sent and received must be in JSON format.

On every request, you must set both the `Accept` and `Content-Type` HTTP headers to the MIME type of the data format you are using to communicate with the API. `Content-Type` tells the API how to interpret your request, and `Accept` tells it how you want your data back. `Content-Type` must be `application/json`. `Accept` can be either that, or `application/javascript` for JSONP. In the latter`case, add a `callback` parameter to name your callback.

Parameters may also be passed in as part of the query string for non-GET requests and will override any matching parameters in the request body.

Example request which returns the current version of Bugzilla:

    GET /rest/version HTTP/1.1
    Host: bugzilla.example.com
    Accept: application/json

Example response:

    HTTP/1.1 200 OK
    Vary: Accept
    Content-Type: application/json

    {
      "version" : "4.2.9+"
    }

Errors

When an error occurs over REST, an object is returned with the key `error` set to `true`.

The error contents look similar to:

    {
      "error": true,
      "message": "Some message here",
      "code": 123
    }

## 6.1.1.2. Common Data Types

The Bugzilla API uses the following various types of parameters:

type | description
--- | ---
int | Integer.
double | A floating-point number.
string | A string.
email | A string representing an email address. This value, when returned, may be filtered based on if the user is logged in or not.
date | A specific date. Example format: `YYYY-MM-DD`.
datetime | A date/time. Timezone should be in UTC unless otherwise noted. Example format: `YYYY-MM-DDTHH24:MI:SSZ`.
boolean | `true` or `false`.
base64 | A base64-encoded string. This is the only way to transfer binary data via the API.
array | An array. There may be mixed types in an array. `[` and `]` are used to represent the beginning and end of arrays.
object | A mapping of keys to values. Called a “hash”, “dict”, or “map” in some other programming languages. The keys are strings, and the values can be any type. `{` and `}` are used to represent the beginning and end of objects.

Parameters that are required will be displayed in bold in the parameters table for each API method.

## 6.1.1.3. Authentication

Some methods do not require you to log in. An example of this is Get Bug. However, authenticating yourself allows you to see non-public information, for example, a bug that is not publicly visible.

There are two ways to authenticate yourself:

API Keys

You can specify `Bugzilla_api_key` or simply `api_key` as an argument to any call, and you will be logged in as that user if the key is correct and has not been revoked. You can set up an API key by using the ‘API Key’ tab in the Preferences pages.

Login and Password

You can specify `Bugzilla_login` and `Bugzilla_password` or simply `login` and `password` respectively, as arguments to any call, and you will be logged in as that user if your credentials are correct.

name | type | description
--- | --- | ---
Bugzilla_login | string | A user’s login name.
Bugzilla_password | string | That user’s password.
Bugzilla_restrictlogin | boolean | If true, then your login will only be valid for your IP address.

The `Bugzilla_restrictlogin` option is only used when you have also specified `Bugzilla_login` and `Bugzilla_password`.

There is also a deprecated method of authentication described below that will be removed in the version after Bugzilla 5.0.

Bugzilla Tokens

You can use Login to log in as a Bugzilla user. This issues a token that you must then use in future calls. Just use the value for `token` and pass as either `Bugzilla_token` or simply `token` as arguments to an API call.

name | type | description
--- | --- | ---
Bugzilla_token | string | You can specify this as argument to any call, and you will be logged in as that user if the token is correct. This is the token returned when calling Login mentioned above.

An error is thrown if you pass an invalid token; you will need to log in again to get a new token.

Also starting with Bugzilla 5.0, login cookies are no longer returned by Login due to security concerns.

## 6.1.1.4. Useful Parameters

Many calls take common arguments. These are documented below and linked from the individual calls where these parameters are used.

Including Fields

Many calls return an array of objects with various fields in the objects. (For example, Get Bug returns a list of `bugs` that have fields like `id`, `summary`, `creation_time`, etc.)

These parameters allow you to limit what fields are present in the objects, to improve performance or save some bandwidth.

`include_fields`: The (case-sensitive) names of fields in the response data. Only the fields specified in the object will be returned, the rest will not be included. Fields should be comma delimited.

Invalid field names are ignored.

Example request to Get User:

    GET /rest/user/1?include_fields=id,name

would return something like:

    {
      "users" : [
        {
          "id" : 1,
          "name" : "user@domain.com"
        }
      ]
    }

Excluding Fields

`exclude_fields`: The (case-sensitive) names of fields in the return value. Thefields specified will not be included in the returned hashes. Fields should be comma delimited.

Invalid field names are ignored.

Specifying fields here overrides `include_fields`, so if you specify a field in both, it will be excluded, not included.

Example request to Get User:

    GET /rest/user/1?exclude_fields=name

would return something like:

    {
      "users" : [
        {
          "id" : 1,
          "real_name" : "John Smith"
        }
      ]
    }

Some calls support specifying “subfields”. If a call states that it supports “subfield” restrictions, you can restrict what information is returned within the first field. For example, if you call Get Product with an `include_fields` of `components.name`, then only the component name would be returned (and nothing else). You can include the main field, and exclude a subfield.

There are several shortcut identifiers to ask for only certain groups of fields to be returned or excluded:

value | description
--- | ---
_all | All possible fields are returned if this is specified in `include_fields`.
_default | Default fields are returned if `include_fields` is empty or this is specified. This is useful if you want the default fields in addition to a field that is not normally returned.
_extra | Extra fields are not returned by default and need to be manually specified in `include_fields` either by exact field name, or adding `_extra`.
_custom | Custom fields are normally returned by default unless this is added to `exclude_fields`. Also you can use it in `include_fields` if for example you want specific field names plus all custom fields. Custom fields are normally only relevant to bug objects.

This documentation undoubtedly has bugs; if you find some, please file them here.